I have been witnessing an onslaught of Martha sightings lately. The girl seems to be everywhere! Her new Craft Line seems to be very popular. I've personally used some of her stickers - they're super cool.
She's designing homes for Kaufman & Broad which seem to be selling like hotcakes.
Her Signature line of Valspar paints is available at Lowe's.
You can send your sick aunt a bouquet of flowers designed by Martha herself from
www.marthastewartflowers.com
Her line of custom furniture for Bernhardt looks great.
Now she's topped her home collections at KMart with a new partnership with Macy's which is being advertised to death.
There's Martha TV and Martha Radio, Martha books, Martha magazines including Blueprint which I really love.
Despite all this success the girl still can't get no respect. I ran across an interesting article the other day on MSN Money . The author of the article Michael Bush opens the article by asking the question - "Is Martha Stewart washed up? Wall Street says yes."
He states that her companies stock has fallen 40% since last December. Viewership of her TV show has dropped by 30% since it's relaunch in Sept 05. Sales of her merchandise at KMart have been weak and are falling as we speak.
Bush writes, "In terms of "appeal," she ranks near the bottom of 1,000 rated celebrities, along with Donald Trump and bad-boy rocker Tommy Lee. Stewart gets ratings for "trust" similar to those scored by actress Lindsay Lohan, who has been in and out of rehab for alleged alcohol abuse, and Gene Simmons, who showed off his makeup skills as lead singer of the rock group KISS. These ratings come from surveys done by Omnicom's Davie Brown Entertainment division."
He goes on to explain on page two of the article possible reasons for these slides and bright points in the future for Miss M and her company. But all this is said after the first page full of jabs at our favorite perfectionist. Maybe that guy that cried hysterically on youtube for Britney can get on the Martha bandwagon and help her out.
I say that any women who can build a $700 million company, go to jail with grace and dignity and pick herself up again after her stay in the big house to resume her career and launch countless new ventures should be given a break. She is a freakin marketing genius and she has reinvented herself almost as many times as Madonna. People love to love her - people love to hate her. But everyone should at least admire her tenacity.
Top image courtesy of super collage artist extraordinaire, Claudine Hellmuth
Check out her blog at claudinehellmuth.blogspot.com
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14 comments:
Very successful lady. Martha that is. She inspires me to first be the best caretaker of my home I can be and if I can't buy it , design and style it myself.
It's the 'lobster in the basket' story. If you have just one lobster caught you must keep the lid on the basket because it can climb out to freedom and back to where it wants to be...on the other hand if you have caught 2 lobsters, you need not worry about the lid because they will 'claw' eachother down. Can you believe it?
I 'hug' Martha.
I agree with you, Jackie. Say what you will about Martha,no one can deny the fact that she's good at just about everything! I honestly think many people are flat out just jealous of her. People like to put down anyone who makes them feel inferior and in their small-mindedness try to verbally "annihilate" their competition. I also think a lot of men hate her just because she intimidates them.... She draws these reactions because she has risen above the crowd, and anyone who does that always makes themselves a target for public derision.
You have to admire a strong woman. Anyone who can build an empire such as she has is an A+ in my book. Let alone go to jail and still seem to rise above it all.
I'm the first to say that I love Martha too. But, I will also say that I bought her stock a couple of years ago and it lost 50% value almost immediately. Despite the advice of my financial person, I held on for month after month. Eventually, I had to dump the stock. It was so painful!
I think she is amazing. I'd love to be able to do a fraction of what she does, but I can't. Doesn't mean I can't admire her in many ways! If I can have even a small Martha moment I feel accomplished. She should be proud of her hard work and efforts to get where she is!
Melissa
The thing I love, and always will, about Ms Stewart is that she raised the bar of standards when they were seriously lacking. She proved, to a degree, that gracious living is within everyone's reach. I think that is the real rub. It is easier to control the unenlightened.
No matter what ...She is GREAT . She doesn't let poeple unconcerned and that is the best ...
I think poeple are jealous
Thanks everyone for the dose of Martha love. I think Linda hits it on the head when she explains that she admires Martha but took a financial hit with her companies stock. I guess it all comes down to the bottom line when you try to play with the big boys.
Jackie: Her craft line is just gorgeous. I live right by Michaels and I'm always over there for something and inevitably I'm drawn to her huge crafts display. I just stare at it thinking what can I buy, can I start scrapbooking or should I have a party and make handmade invitations and party favors? hehe NO!!! But still, the line is so gorgeous, the scissors even sing!!! oh well, I'm not a crafter and never will be, but that display calls me over every time to ooh and ah. Great post girl.
Joni-
Martha is now and has always been brilliant in my opinion. That said, maybe she should narrow her focus a bit. I have always loved the projects she features in her magazine and her tv shows, but am not so impressed with her furniture line or housewares. She churns it out so that "everyone" can own a little piece, but none of it seems very special.
I also toured her KB Homes neighborhood in Atlanta and was only slightly more impressed with it than with other corporate builder neighborhoods. (Great closets though--like only a woman could master)!
Martha is now and has always been brilliant in my opinion. That said, maybe she should narrow her focus a bit. I have always loved the projects she features in her magazine and her tv shows, but am not so impressed with her furniture line or housewares. She churns it out so that "everyone" can own a little piece, but none of it seems very special.
I also toured her KB Homes neighborhood in Atlanta and was only slightly more impressed with it than with other corporate builder neighborhoods. (Great closets though--like only a woman could master)!
Here, here !! I agree with everything you said in your last paragrapgh. She is an incredible role model for women.
I heard once that we all stumble. It's the grace with which you pick yourself up that separates the champions from the rest of us. Martha is a champion. It takes chutzpah to publicly be slammed, come back and put yourself into the limelight even more. I applaud her and am now a fan of her tenacity and ability to reinvent herself.
Nice post, Jackie. Sorry I missed it when you originally posted it.
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